I have been traveling the world as a journalist and passionate lover of all things fun for 20 years. I have had weekly columns in USA Today and Investors Business Daily, published thousands of articles in leading magazines from Playboy to Popular Science, and am the author of Getting Into Guinness. I am the Contributing Travel Editor for Cigar Aficionado Magazine, the restaurant columnist for USAToday.com, and am a co-founder of TheAPosition.com, the leading golf travel website. I love every kind of travel, active, cultural and leisurely, and my special areas of expertise are luxury hotels and resorts, golf, skiing, food, wine and spirits. I tweet @TravelFoodGuy

America's Only Formula One Race Is Selling Out Fast

Austin's Circuit of the Americas is a $400-million facility purpose built to host the nation's only Formula One race.

Formula One racing is among the top five most popular spectator sports in the world, and depending who you believe, it is usually ranked second, third or fourth. Either way it is huge, but there is just one F1 race held in the US each year – and it is selling out fast.

F1 racing has come and gone from the US over the years, always suffering from makeshift venues, often held on public streets in the middle of blocked off US cities. Finally, this country has a purpose-built racetrack designed from start to finish as a centerpiece for the sport, and many race insiders and top drivers believe that the $400 million plus Circuit of the Americas in Austin, TX is among the very best tracks on earth, with a 20-turn 3.4-mile layout and state of the art spectator facilities.

The Formula 1 United States Grand Prix will be held for its second year November 15-17. The debut race last year drew a crowd of 265,499 making it the second-most attended F1 race worldwide, and SportsBusiness Journal/Daily named it the 2012 “Sports Event of the Year.”

Like the Kentucky Derby, which I have written about here at length as a must-attend true Bucket List experience, the weekend gala is far more than just the race itself, and also includes lavish red carpet nighttime parties throughout Austin, concerts, tours of the track, paddock and garages, a day of practice and another of qualifying, plus the actual race.

All premium seats sold by the racetrack have been gone for months – the last release sold out almost instantly in mid-June. The bad news is that the only remaining options for quality seats in the most desirable spots, the Paddock Club, main Grandstand, Turn 1 and Turn 15 are through an event package with the track’s exclusive North American licensee, Circuit of the Americas (COTA) Experiences, or for the Paddock Club, through sister licensee Grand Prix Experiences. The good news is that these packages are awesome.

All COTA Experience packages include tickets for three days with Friday practice, Saturday qualifying and the Sunday race, plus VIP express entrances to the track, interior shuttle service within the vast complex, and food and beverage hospitality Saturday and Sunday in COTA Experiences’ exclusive 20,000 square foot Legends Club, near the start line. Besides plenty of food and open bar, the Legends Club provides entertainment and meet and greets with retired and current race drivers. Packages are available with or without hotel lodging, bearing in mind that Austin will be completely sold out and they have pre-reserved blocks of rooms. Those opting for hotels also get daily transportation from the hotel to and from the track and admission to the Thursday night VIP kickoff party with insider track tours, guest host Mario Andretti and a private concert by American Idol winner Taylor Hicks. Package customers can also opt in to Saturday’s “Lunch With A Legend” featuring Sir Jackie Stewart. There are three big nighttime shindigs in Austin that can be added to packages.

The breadth of choices is somewhat confusing, so here is a quick overview.

The festive three day event will feature plenty of pomp and circumstance, on and off the track.

Formula One itself operates the Paddock Club at just about every race in the world. At Circuit of the Americas, it has its own dedicated three-story building that can hold 5,500 on two floors above a level of working race garages. “There is a similar Paddock Club at almost every track on the F1 circuit,” said COTA Experiences’ Brian Learst. “You get the best view of the pits, you get to do pit walks and tour the garages and see them working on cars. The pit walk is a big selling point and only Paddock Club guests get it, that is not available to anyone seated anywhere. The Paddock Club also has a very high level of service – they fly in the chairs, tables, glassware and staff at every stop around the world, and they are very experienced at it. Almost every other major sporting event hires part-time local help. If you go to multiple F1 races and are a Paddock Club customer you are likely to get the same waiter or bartender.” Grand Prix Experiences is also the official North American licensee selling Paddock Club packages for all F1 races worldwide.

The pros of the Paddock Cub are that it has the best quality food and the pit walks. The con is that beverage service is limited to wine and champagne, and it is not necessarily considered the best place to view the actual race from.

The competing top tier option is the VIP skybox operated by COTA Experiences, which overlooks the start line, holds 120 guests, and has wait staff who bring in food from the Legends Club. The pros of this choice are full open bar and far more “programming,” with race car driver and celebrity appearances. The next best option is the Platinum level in the Grand Stand, followed by premium seats in the rest of the Grandstand, or turns 1 and 15, considered the best spots for seeing the action by race aficionados because they offer passing opportunities. All of these packages include unlimited Saturday and Sunday hospitality in the Legends Club for food, drink, entertainment and a change of pace from their seats. “Because a lot of spectators have never been to the track before and don’t know where they want to sit, we are also offering a unique multi-turn package that combines the options and gives them a day each in the Grandstand, Turn 1 and Turn 15,” said Learst.

The cheapest lodging packages combine hotels in San Antonio (just over an hour away) and track transfers with the least desirable general admission seating and begin at just under a thousand dollars for three days. Premium seat packages in the Grandstand or the two marquee turns start at about $2,000 without lodging and $3,149 with more desirable downtown Austin hotels. The VIP Skybox is sold as a 4-night package with lodging for $5,399 (double occupancy), while the most expensive option is the 3-day Paddock Club package with accommodations, $6,549 per person.

“F1 is the premier auto racing in the world, and we finally have a track worthy of the sport. It’s a phenomenal facility, the drivers absolutely raved about it last year, and there are very few facilities in all of F1 that can compare,” said Learst. “To see these guys going 230-240mph in the straightaways is just awesome.”

Post Your Comment

Post Your Reply

Forbes writers have the ability to call out member comments they find particularly interesting. Called-out comments are highlighted across the Forbes network. You'll be notified if your comment is called out.